


Like a Starbird (I Will Rise)

by intothenowhere



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Padmé Amidala Lives, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 14:26:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15887865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothenowhere/pseuds/intothenowhere
Summary: Padmé Amidala is dead - to the galaxy, she died when her ship crashed. To Palpatine and Vader, she died through the Force.Padmé Naberrie is alive - hidden in the shadows, she will rise with the surviving members of the group that had become her family, and there will be peace again.(A moment after Revenge of the Sith, where Padmé contemplates what will happen next)





	Like a Starbird (I Will Rise)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rabesfives](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabesfives/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Jae! I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I did writing it, and I wish you a wonderful day filled with all your favorite things! I hope to talk to you more over the next year, and fangirl about everything and anything with you!

_There is still good in him…_

 

Those had been Padmé Amidala’s final words - between breaths as the anesthesia slipped into effect, and the world of blurry whites, and Obi-Wan’s kind eyes filled with sorrow, as her twins began to cry.

 

When she woke again, she was dead to the universe - perished in a crash, leaving behind no body. Years of training had prepared her to become a ghost, and with the help of her sisters - Sabé, Eirtaé, and Rabé - she would be able to hide right under the Empire's nose.

 

Padmé lay still, listening to the soft beeps of medical equipment. The twins had fallen asleep at last, and while she usually slept along with them, Yoda's words echoed to her, keeping her awake:

 

_Hide, you must - stop at nothing, the Emperor will not._

 

Obi-Wan later quietly explained over dinner how close to death she got - the Emperor's tampering again, this time through the Force. If it weren't for Yoda and Obi-Wan briefly cutting her off from the Force…

 

Leia began to cry.

 

Padmé sighed as she slipped out of bed to sing her daughter back to sleep with an old Nabooian rhyme - of the two, Leia was the most stubborn, especially when it came to rest. She reminded Padmé of Anakin.

 

A door hissed open behind her, followed by the noise of robes rustling across a smooth, marble floor.

 

“You don't have to come every time they cry, Obi-Wan.” Padmé said, turning to find her suspicion correct. He gave a wan smile in return - and, not for the first time, Padmé could see how the war aged him. No more was there an exasperated yet collected young man - now there was a man who’d seen too much loss in such a short time.

 

“Perhaps not,” he admitted, crossing over to where Leia lay, wiggling and gurgling. “But regardless…”

 

Padmé smiled softly - she suspected Obi-Wan frequented her quarters to remind himself that _something_ good remained of his former apprentice, and the twins were a living, breathing reminder of the love that filled Anakin's heart, before Palpatine had twisted it to suit his own needs.

 

His expression softened as he peered into the crib that contained Leia, the wrinkles that prematurely lined his face smoothed out.

 

Leia reached out, wrapping one teeny finger around his, and made a noise that sounded like a laugh instead of a cry.

 

Padmé raised an eyebrow - “Did you do something with the Force?”

 

Obi-Wan pressed his lips together to stop a grin from spreading, “No, I didn't. I do believe your daughter likes me, Senator.”

 

Padmé smiled, “Of course she does.”

 

Obi-Wan looked up for a moment, and Padmé suddenly longed for Anakin's presence. That was how she dreamt this moment would go - no war, just hers and Anakin's friends, their children…

 

“We've arrived on Dagobah,” Captain Antilles announced, stiff as a board. “General Kenobi, Master Yoda is waiting for you.”

 

“That would be my cue,” Obi-Wan said, pulling away from Leia. He moved toward the door, stopping only to squeeze Padmé's arm, a sympathetic look on his face. They both knew what the next stop would mean, for them, and for the rest of the galaxy. “There will be peace again, I promise you, Senator.”

 

Padmé gave a stiff nod, and Obi-Wan parted, moving toward the door, stopping only when she called his name.

 

“I think you can start calling me Padmé all the time, Obi-Wan. We're not working in an official capacity anymore.”

 

_We may never work in an official capacity again._

 

He paused, considering, then nodded, and with a swish of his robes, he and Captain Antilles was gone.

 

Padmé wrapped her arms around herself, breathing in the sterile scent of the _Tantive IV,_ and moved towards her twins. Leia was still awake, but Luke was sound asleep. The former kept her eyes trained on her mother, brown eyes sparkling.

 

“Mama loves you, both of you. And perhaps one day we'll meet again, but... it's too dangerous for you to be kept together.” Padmé reached forward, taking Leia’s small hand with hers. “But know that I will always be there for both of you, watching. And there is no doubt in my mind that I'll be proud of the people you grow to be.”

 

She swallowed back a sob, pressed a kiss a piece to each twin’s forehead, and began to pack. Their first stop would be Tatooine, where Luke would be left with Owen and Beru. Padmé had every intention to sit down with them both - and Bail and Breha when it was time - to thank them. And to warn them.

 

Darker days were ahead of them.

 

The Empire had only just risen.

 

And yet, despite the darkness, there was hope. It lie before her, two squirming beings who had so much potential within the Force, their stories having only just begun. It lied within her, and her sisters. Within Bail and Mon, and Obi-Wan.

 

The idea caused a prideful smile to spread across her face. Little did Palpatine know that a group had risen from the ashes of the republic he’d dismantled; that women taught to be ghosts were watching, waiting. That there were Jedi, even now, still alive - and then there was her, Padmé Naberrie. A woman who should be dead, by all accounts, but was still very much alive.

 

 _Like a starbird,_ Padmé thought willfully, _we will rise. And perhaps our flame will be enough to spark a rebellion._

 

She moved away from the twins - Leia having finally fallen asleep - and picked up her datapad, thumbing through the most recent reports on which Jedi had been killed - reports that Bail had somehow acquired.

She paused on one file, read it over and over again, until it was committed to memory.  


Padmé glanced towards her twins. She would fight, for them. For Anakin. For the galaxy.

After Alderaan, she would disappear - a ghost among the stars, one with a mission: to find the girl who was once like a daughter to her, who had been betrayed and hurt. 

Who had been with Rex before the Purge.

If anyone could survive Order 66, it was her.

And Padmé was going to find her.


End file.
